Bloomberg: Russia negotiates purchase of Boeing planes with frozen assets should ceasefire be signed

Russia has reportedly approached the United States with a request to purchase Boeing aircraft using frozen billions of dollars from the Russian Central Bank once a ceasefire on Ukraine is reached.

This was reported by Bloomberg, citing an undisclosed source based in Moscow.

While the request is not a precondition for agreeing to a ceasefire, the source emphasised that Russia understands the frozen funds cannot be used to buy aircraft without a halt in hostilities. Bloomberg notes that such a deal could be part of a broader sanctions relief package following the end of fighting.

However, US National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told the publication that Washington would not discuss any such deals until a ceasefire is in place.

The report highlights that around $5 billion in Russian assets remain frozen in the United States, while an estimated $210 billion are held across Europe. These funds were initially invested in short-term government bonds serving as reserves for Russia’s central bank, but as those bonds have matured, the assets have accumulated as cash within custodian banks. Of the European-held funds, approximately €183 billion are believed to be kept at Euroclear, a Belgian financial clearinghouse.

To date, G7 nations have steered clear of the legal and financial risks tied to fully seizing the assets and directly transferring them to Ukraine. Instead, they have opted for a more cautious approach: leveraging the interest generated from the frozen funds to secure a $50 billion (€45.7 billion) upfront aid package for Ukraine, backed by borrowing against expected future interest earnings.

By Nazrin Sadigova